Born: Unknown, Australia (assumed)
Died: NA
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
The following is republished with permission from the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
Dagmar has helped to provide people with cognitive and speech-related disabilities access to tailored sexual assault response services.
Dagmar’s work has led the establishment, evaluation, sustenance and growth of a sexual assault response service tailored to people with cognitive disabilities and little or no speech.
The program offered since 2011 through the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence (SECASA) encompasses counselling, advocacy, secondary consultation, training, and integrated partnerships development.
Dagmar has also worked towards increasing the capacity of the statewide sexual assault sector in this space through workforce training and resourcing of Victorian sexual assault counsellor/advocates.
The integrated partnership work has delivered rare outcomes. In some cases, the advocacy provided has led to police investigations which have resulted in perpetrators being charged, which is far less frequent for crimes against people with cognitive disabilities or communication support needs.
The flexible model provided in collaboration with the Springvale Monash Legal Service, which includes outreach, has enabled survivors who otherwise may not have accessed the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal to successfully apply.